House Hunting in Seattle

House hunting tips. (PRNewsFoto/RealtyPin)

House hunting tips. (PRNewsFoto/RealtyPin)

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 27, 2012 /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- With all of its water and hilly terrain, Seattle is a beautiful place to live (in fact, thanks to the Growth Management Act, only so much of that beautiful land can be used for residential development!). Whether you're born and bred here or picking up and relocating here, there are 5 tips you need to take advantage of if you want to end up with the best possible house in Seattle:

1. Be prepared for some competition The demand for houses is higher in Seattle, due in large part to the local unemployment rate. As of October, King County's unemployment rate was 6.5%. That's almost 0.5% lower than it was in September, and nearly 1.5% lower than the rest of the country. With more people enjoying the stability of a steady paycheck, more of them are looking to settle down and buy homes. As a result, Seattle isn't quite the buyers' market that other cities are. Even though there's more demand, the inventory of available houses isn't very high. The houses that do get put on the market get snapped up quickly, so be prepared to act fast!

2. Get ready to crack open your wallet With all of that extra competition, you can be prepared for one more thing – higher prices. Seattle's home prices are showing consistent month-by-month gains over their 2011 counterparts. In fact, in October, Seattle was named one of the least affordable housing markets in the entire country! Luckily, the Seattle area has one of the highest median incomes in the nation ($64,025, to be exact). You'll need every penny of your salary to buy one of the average-sized homes here!

3. Look for natural light House hunters all over the country tend to like big windows that let in lots of sunshine, but these homes are particularly popular in Seattle. That's because Seattle's typically cloudy and rainy skies can make for some awfully dark rooms if you don't have giant windows!

4. A patio – any patio – is a must Seattle's temperatures DO go up eventually, and the skies DO clear up here, but they don't do it for very long! If you want to take full advantage of the short summers in Seattle, be sure to get a house with its own patio. That way, you can do some grilling or just enjoy a sunset outside with a nice glass of wine. Even if you can't afford a house with a giant patio, you'll be happy for a small space when the weather is nice!

5. Consider your commute Lots of people move to Seattle's east side (particularly along the I-90 corridor), because it's more affordable than the west side of town – but still offers a direct route into downtown. So, if you decide to buy a home here, you'll be in good company. However, that also means your morning commute could be a long one. For example, if you move to Sammamish, it will likely take you at least 20 minutes just to get to Issaquah on I-90 – and then you'll still have miles and miles to go before you hit downtown! If you're not prepared to spend that much time in the car every day, you're going to have to house-hunt in another part of town.